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February 2017

February 28, 2017

Many things we never thought were possible in America have now become our reality.

A narcissistic, childlike, shallow-thinking bully is our President. A man who has shown support for white nationalism philosophies is his right hand man. The press, intelligence community, and judiciary are under attack from the White House. Many Americans support a theocracy where Christianity would be the law of the land.

But the shining star that fuels hope among us in all of this is the US Constitution.

The document that enshrines our beloved freedoms of press and religion (and yes, the right to bear arms). That establishes our cherished principles of equal justice for all. That provides our important system of checks-and-balances.

By his words and actions, President Trump makes it clear he'd rather not be constrained by this clunky old document.

Last year, West Virginia joined 27 other states calling for a Constitutional Convention to create a balanced budget amendment.

Most of us are familiar with Constitutional Amendments proposed by Congress and ratified by the States such as the 25th Amendment on Presidential succession. That process itself limits the action. A single issue pre-defined with a yes or no vote.

But Article V of the US Constitution allows for a constitutional convention when called for by 2/3 of the state legislatures.

During last year's debate in WV, the WV Center on Budget and Policy called it a "potentially dangerous proposal...that could endanger our most cherished freedoms".

Pushing aside the merits of the proposed amendments in SCR 10, there is a broad legal consensus that it would be difficult to limit or control a convention of states even if states specify it is only for single purpose. As the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities highlights in a recent report:

A number of prominent legal experts have warned that states cannot control a constitutional convention or that calling one could open up the Constitution to significant and unpredictable changes. For instance:

“I certainly would not want a constitutional convention. Whoa! Who knows what would come out of it?”aFormer Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia

“[T]here is no way to effectively limit or muzzle the actions of a Constitutional Convention. The Convention could make its own rules and set its own agenda. Congress might try to limit the Convention to one amendment or one issue, but there is no way to assure that the Convention would obey. After a Convention is convened, it will be too late to stop the Convention if we don’t like its agenda.”bFormer Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger

“There is no enforceable mechanism to prevent a convention from reporting out wholesale changes to our Constitution and Bill of Rights.”cFormer Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg

“First of all, we have developed orderly procedures over the past couple of centuries for resolving [some of the many] ambiguities [in the Constitution], but no comparable procedures for resolving [questions surrounding a convention]. Second, difficult interpretive questions about the Bill of Rights or the scope of the taxing power or the commerce power tend to arise one at a time, while questions surrounding the convention process would more or less need to be resolved all at once. And third, the stakes in this case in this instance are vastly greater, because what you’re doing is putting the whole Constitution up for grabs.”dProfessor Laurence Tribe, Harvard Law School

“[S]tate legislators do not have the right to dictate the terms of constitutional debate. On the contrary, they may be eliminated entirely if Congress decides that state conventions would be more appropriate vehicles for ratification. The states have the last say on amendments, but the Constitution permits them to consider only those proposals that emerge from a national institution free to consider all possible responses to an alleged constitutional deficiency. . . Nobody thinks we are now in the midst of constitutional crisis. Why, then, should we put the work of the first convention in jeopardy?”eProfessor Bruce Ackerman, Yale Law School

The ALEC-afiliated Balanced Budget Amendment Task Force is working more states this year. A separate group is working on more wide-ranging convention call that would allow the convention to take up any issue it wants--amend the founding document in may it chooses.

Many legal scholars think even the so-called "single issue" convention would be able to run rogue and propose other amendments.

The balanced budget amendment convention is within striking distance of becoming law. They are targeting 13 states for approval this year and 6 of them are GOP controlled. That would meet the need 34 to force a convention call.

(from InTheseTimes.com) Arn Pearson at the Center for Media and Democracy, a watchdog group based in Madison, Wisc., is closely tracking the movement. He describes the campaign for a constitutional convention as “a very live threat.” “If between the groups they get to 34 states,” he says, “there is really nothing preventing them from aggregating those calls even if they’re not identical, and pushing for a convention.”

In the end, whatever a convention might call for would need ratified by 38 states, which would be a last line of defense.

To some this might sound alarmist, but our democracy is in danger, our republic is failing, we are nearing an oligarchy, and now the very heart of all that make us what we are is in danger.

February 25, 2017

Perhaps the only thing West Virginians dislike more than higher taxes is the miserable condition of our road system.

And that could benefit Governor Jim Justice in his forward-thinking plan to undertake a massive infrastructure project creating 48,000 jobs, completing dozens of major highway projects, and injecting a major stimulus to economic growth with an improved transportation system that could attract new business and tourism.

The governor wants to do some creative thinking on highways funding, potentially raising license plate renewal fees from $30 to $50, increasing Turnpike tolls from $2 to $3 (although the governor wants to let West Virginians avoid the tolls with an E-ZPass) and seeking legal permission to expand what roads can be tolled, and raising the base tax on gasoline by 10 cents a gallon. (wvmetronews.com)

I've talked with several diehard Republicans in recent weeks--just average citizens, not elected officials--and to a person they all have said they are opposed to higher taxes, BUT if increased gas taxes were guaranteed to mean better roads, they would bite that bullet and support the tax hike.

I think when folks get into elected office they became enamored with labels (Republican-Democrat, Liberal-Conservative, "Tax" or "Cut"). But for those of us in the real world, we look to results. Our roads are deplorable--FIX THEM. We'll pay a little more for that end result.

Businesses that are transportation-based, that have large fleets and big fuel costs, of course, would be harder hit but the long-term value of improved roads would mean their costs would eventually go down. It is a business investment.

The recently-released annual TRIP report gives the Governor more ammunition as it shows 9 bridges across I-70 in Ohio County are considered "structurally deficient" (the DOH says that doesn't necessarily mean "unsafe"). 62% of our major roads are poor or mediocre.

In addition to any safety concerns that raises, the report also shows it costs the average motorist over a $1,000 a year in actual out of pocket costs.

Driving on deficient roads costs each Wheeling area driver $1,315 per year in the form of extra vehicle operating costs (VOC) as a result of driving on roads in need of repair, lost time and fuel due to congestion-related delays, and the costs of traffic crashes in which roadway features likely were a contributing factor. The TRIP report calculates the cost to motorists of insufficient roads in the Charleston, Huntington, Morgantown, Parkersburg and Wheeling urban areas. A breakdown of the costs per motorist in each area along with a statewide total is below.

The TRIP report finds that 62 percent of major roads in the Wheeling urban area are in poor or mediocre condition, costing the average motorist an additional $720 each year in extra vehicle operating costs, including accelerated vehicle depreciation, additional repair costs, and increased fuel consumption and tire wear. (WV Transportation By the Numbers)

The Governor has a hard sell in front of him.

Many in legislative leadership are dead set against any form of tax hike. Their game plan seems to be to cut government further, decrease services, allow roads to linger in disrepair, and cost our citizens cash because they have a philosophical dislike of government

Moodys recently downgraded our bond rating which means a more difficult time when a road bond issue has to go to the market

The legislature has to approve the gas tax hike (and related measures) to guarantee a payment source for bonds, then the bond proposal needs approval of state voters

The philosophy of "cut and wait" is a losers strategy. We just cower and hunker down, continuing to serve our citizens even less, and hope that some magic happens to bring our state alive again.

Governor Justice wants to move the state forward. Now. Take bold action. Think like winners do. Decide what we need and find a way to get it.

We need improved roads. Virtually every West Virginian agrees. The "Road Fairy" won't make it happen.. It's up to us to make it happen.

There is a political game being played in Charleston and we're all the pawns.

If you want better roads, call your legislators and let them know. Tell them you don't care if they wear a "D" or an "R". You're not interested in text book economics. You want results.

February 13, 2017

Governor Justice is thinking big and looking at more than “balancing the budget”. His greater goal is to see the state survive, thrive, and grow. And he knows that can’t be done by slicing and dicing the very programs and services that define state government.

A future West Virginia that is attractive to business and to young creative people needs to be one that reaps the rewards of investment, not cuts.

But in developing his budget, the Governor spread the “pain” around through all sectors of society. It’s a move that makes sense but also opens him up to criticism from all sides.

Although the budget cuts proposed were small in the overall package, they are big for entities that suffer them. WV Public Broadcasting has already begun a public offensive against them.

Eliminating all state funding endangers our ability to provide PBS Kids programming to low-income children who need it the most. WVPB’s main PBS channel provide 67 hours per week of educational children’s programming. And the station just launched a new 24/7 PBS Kids Channel.

The elimination of funding also hurts more than 6,000 educators and homeschoolers who depend on videos and curricula on our West Virginia Learning Media website.

This budget also eliminates all funding for WVPB’s Mountain Stage, West Virginia’s calling card to the world. More than 13,000 people attended a Mountain Stage concert in West Virginia last year, leading to more than $1 million in direct economic impact.

What does the Governor’s proposed elimination of all funding for Mountain Stage save? $300,000. (Friends of WV Public Broadcasting press release)

WVU and Marshall each are looking at 4.4% cut and you can expect them and others in the $27 million of cuts to lobby for a lighter trim.

Raising the consumer sale tax hits middle and working class West Virginians the hardest.

Business gets bit with a .2 % Consumer Activity Tax (or “B-and-O” tax) which most people feel is a bad tax to begin with.

Drivers will see a 10 cent/gallon hike in the gas tax (although it will be dedicated for leveraging a bond to do major hi way work).

Turnpike tolls will go up a dollar but state residents will pay $8/year to avoid paying the tolls.

Taken as a whole, it is a “rounded” package that gets a little from everyone and keeps mosts of state government intact.

But since everyone is hit, everyone will complain.

Leadership is making bold decisions and having the confidence to follow them through.

Republicans --who would prefer to see state government strangled of money and ended--are already claiming they're going to present an alternative budget balanced on the back of cuts--on the backs of people who need government services and programs, on the backs of parents who hope their kids can find a future here.

A budget of cuts is a budget of despair and defeat.

Not all of his suggestions will survive (even I don’t like many of them). There will be more cuts (and maybe smarter ones) than he proposed. Likely less taxes or different ones. A robust debate on the right mix is good.

But the focus needs to be on growing the state, not throwing in the towel.

Governor Justice is looking at the big picture

He’s on the right track, but Justice needs to pull out the stops in selling this proposal to the people and the legislature.

You can’t move the state forward by STOPPING doing the state’s job.

You have to invest in order to grow.

And a West Virginia that has a positive economy and that young people want to return to, or come to, needs Justice’s big thinking, enthusiasm, and commitment to investment for growth.

February 02, 2017

Keeping and attracting young people to WV is a major priority in the Mountain State. Having an educated, trained, professional workforce is critical to bringing the kind of 21st Century investment into the state that is necessary for it to have a viable future. (Not to mention it keeps parents and grandparents happy when the young ones don’t need to flee to succeed).

A new project by Generation WV should be an important step to achieving that end for a half dozen future leaders.

For generations the path to financial success for many West Virginians was to enter mines or the mills right after high school, but the professional track often meant a trip out of state. With the dramatic change in our state’s economy, the decline of mining and manufacturing, and the choice of more young people to enter professional fields, that traditional path to good-paying jobs isn’t viable. And as the state transitions to a new economy, professional careers are more important than ever.

Six companies—including Wheeling-based Wesbanco—are the initial participants in IMPACT WV. They offer one-year paid fellowships with benefits in professional fields for college graduates. In addition to a 32 hour-work week, the fellows will spend Fridays doing non-profit work in their communities. The 6 fellowships will be granted following a competitive application process.

Our goal is three-fold: To connect young talent to innovative West Virginia companies, empower young talent to be a part of the solution in West Virginia, and by doing so, highlight the true potential and opportunity that West Virginia has to offer. (WeImactWV.org)

Natalie Roper, Executive Director of Generation WV, said this week on The Watchdog Morning Show that “many companies have opportunities for people with 5 or more years of experience, but where do graduates go for years 1 to 5”?.

When Governor Bob Wise started the PROMISE scholarship program, its purpose was to keep young West Virginians in the state for their college careers. It is based on the belief that students who attend school here are more likely to stay here after graduation. But without a good paying job, many still have to leave to find their careers. Impact WV takes the PROMISE concept to its next level offering the professional job needed as that bridge between years 1 to 5 Roper refers to.

The 6 companies involved in this initial rollout are all innovative professional businesses in the Mountain State the include research analysis, education advocacy, banking, health care, design, and engineering. New companies and additional fellowships will hopefully after the successful launch. Wheeling-based Wesbanco, for example, will give the selected fellow opportunities in many aspects of the banking field.

At WesBanco Bank, you will be place in one of several growth areas of our bank based on your skill set, interests, and our needs. You will have the opportunity to work as a member of one of teams that are dedicated to bringing the latest banking and financial services to the communities in our five metropolitan markets as well as other local communities in our footprint. We have challenging developmental opportunities within following areas of WesBanco:

Risk Management & Compliance

Credit Underwriting & Portfolio Management

Commercial & Consumer Lending

Project Management

Strategic Planning

Wealth Management

Retail Delivery

Impact West Virginia is modeled after Challenge Detroit, an organization founded in 2012 with a mission to challenge leaders to learn by doing through a year of meaningful employment and intellectual work with area nonprofits designed to positively impact our diverse, culturally vibrant city. In the fellowship program’s first five years, over 75 company partnerships were established, over 4000 individuals applied to participate and over $8 million in value to the local economy was generated.(WeImpactWV.org)

Roper notes that while “young people CAN’T stay in a place without a job, they WON’T stay in a place they don’t like” which is why the fellows will be directly involved in making their communities a better place and through the non-profit competent, they’ll be able to feel the value of place in their area. She also points out that while IMPACT WV gives hope to residents and in-state grads, it also may be a path for young people who are not from WV to come to the state and experience what we have to offer.

Applicants interested need to apply by March 13 with a written application. Those selected to move ahead will write an essay and attend in-person interviews later. More details are available at WeImpactWV.org

West Virginia has been mired in its past too long. We have spent too many years and too much energy trying to recreate that which was—but is no more. Forward-looking ideas are needed now.